2011 Inter-Continental Hotel Kabul attack

The 2011 Inter-Continental Hotel Kabul attack occurred on 28 June 2011, when nine Taliban suicide bombers, armed with assault rifles, hand grenades, RPG launchers, machine guns, and anti-aircraft weapons, entered the Inter-Continental Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan and killed 12 people. Their targets were foreigners and security officials; sixty to seventy guests were staying at the hotel, with many of them being there to attend a briefing about the transfer of security responsibilities from the United States to the Afghan security forces, and others being there for a wedding party. At 10:00 PM, the attackers made their way to the rear of the hotel under concealment of thick vegetation, and Afghan law enforcement personnel fled the area rather than engage the attackers. Suicide vests were detonated at the entrance to the hotel and on the second floor, and two dance halls were destroyed in the initial attack. The attackers then ascended to the fifth floor, and gunfire between law enforcement officers and terrorists continued until the early morning hours. Guests were told to barricade themselves inside their rooms, while others escaped by jumping out of windows. Soon, security forces stormed the building, killing a militant on the first two floors; two NATO helicopters circled the roof and killed three of the attackers, and an injured suicide bomber hid in a hotel room and ambushed and killed a Spanish pilot after the declared conclusion of operations (the press had declared the operation to be over at that time, and had stated that the security forces had eliminated all but one militant).